URMC named NIH Center for AIDS Research

The University of Rochester Medical Center has been named a National Institutes of Health Center for AIDS Research.

The NIH designation—bestowed on 18 research centers nationally—adds $7.5 million in NIH funding over the next five years to URMC’s AIDS funding, which last year totaled $15.3 million.

“This award … will make the research we’re doing now even better and will allow us to take our work in many new directions,” said Stephen Dewhurst, URMC vice dean for research, who will head the AIDS research center.

The URMC AIDS center plans two major working groups. One, led by Harris Gelbard M.D., director of the Center for Neural Development and Disease and an international expert on HIV-associated dementia, will focus on the virus’ effect on the brain and what it means for aging patients.

A second, led by David Matthews M.D., UR associate professor of biology, plans to investigate the AIDS virus’ genetic material, looking in particular at HIV’s ribonucleic acid.

Also planned as part of the NIH AIDS research center is a collaboration between UR River Campus Institute of Optics scientists and URMC Department of Neurology researchers.